USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume II > Part 44
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As a boy at home, F. William Schafer attended the district schools which his native village afforded, after which he attended Evans Business College first, normal school afterward. He entered the Evans Business College at Adrian, Michigan, where he pursued a complete and thorough course in business instruction. He then attended the Michigan State Normal School one year and fitted himself for a teaching position and became engaged in that capacity in the public schools of Monroe county, following that work for about fifteen years. He then withdrew from his pedagogical activities and engaged in farming, taking charge of his father's farm, to which industry he devoted about twelve years. In 1906 Mr. Schafer assisted in the organization of the Ida Telephone Company, becoming its manager at the time, and has since continued in that posi- tion. The company organized as a mutual company in 1904, but in 1906 was reorganized and incorporated under the laws of the state, which
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T.N. Schafer
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marked the date of Mr. Schafer's active connection with the business. Under the stimulus of his capable management the company is operated on a paying basis, and is one of the stable organizations of the county. Mr. Weilnau, the present president, spent two months in organizing the first farm line and did all he could to make this organization a success and the success of this company is due to the energy of its present board of directors, viz. : David Weilnau, president; Dr. H. E. Kelley, vice-presi- dent ; F. Wm. Schafer, secretary and manager ; John S. Knapp, treasurer ; and Messrs. H. J. Fredenburg, Charles Jelsch and Fred Rehberg. The authorized capital stock is $15,000 and they have about five hundred telephones in operation, with exchanges in at Ida and Maybee, Michigan. Mr. Schafer is also a member of the board of directors of the Excelsior Creamery Company of Ida, Michigan, and is its secretary. He always took an active interest in educational matters, having served as presi- dent of the school board at Ida over ten years during which time the present graded school district was organized by a special act of the Michigan legislature. He was chairman of the building committee when the present high school building was erected.
The fraternal affiliations of Mr. Schafer are represented by his mem- bership in Samaria Lodge, No. 438, A. F. & A. M., Ruth Chapter, No. 89 of Eastern Star, Sitzer Tent, No. 841, K. O. T. M., and Raisinville Grange, No. 410. He was a charter member of Sitzer Tent, K. O. T. M., and its first commander. Mr. Schafer is a true Republican politically and has always acted on those principles, and he cast his first presidential vote for R. B. Hayes. He has always been an active participant in party affairs and at present he holds the office of justice of the peace. He is an earnest member of the Presbyterian church and has been one of the elders and clerk of the session of the local church since its organization in 1898. In 1910 he was elected as one of the commissioners from Monroe Presbytery to the One Hundred and Twenty-Second general assembly of the Presbyterian church of U. S. A., which met in Atlantic City, N. J. He has always been closely identified with the Sunday school and has taken an important part in its work, having served as superintendent and teacher in his school. He is also secretary of the Monroe County Sunday School Association, a post which he has held and filled most creditably for the past fifteen years.
Mr. Schafer is unmarried. He is a pleasant, genial man of German temperament and character and is one of the most highly esteemed men in the community wherein he has passed his life and in which he has ever been an influence for its industrial, educational and moral uplift and advancement.
MICHAEL GOTTFRIED. One of the oldest pioneers of Monroe county, Michigan, and one of the most highly respected and honored as well is Michael Gottfried, who is now past four score and four years of age and has spent all but nineteen of those years in Monroe county. He is a German by birth and heritage of character, but his nationality is one which has long been regarded as one of the most valuable that has entered into the life of our nation. The German-American never assumes half-hearted ties of citizenship. Shoulder to shoulder with
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the Anglo-American he has always been found in the advance guard of civilization in our country and as an agriculturist he seldom yields precedence to any other nationality. The life story of Michael Gott- fried furnishes another illustration of what a young man may accom- plish in America if he has a good stock of energy, pluck, perseverance and ability.
Born in Germany, February 25, 1828, he accompanied his parents, Casper and Margaret (Rapus) Gottfried to America in 1847. The family came directly to what was then the village of Monroe, Michigan, where the father was employed in various ways until 1863 when he removed to a farm in Monroe township. Later he returned to Monroe and resided there until his death in 1887. The mother passed away in 1881. Both were natives of the Fatherland, the father's birth having occurred there in 1803 and the mother's in 1806. Five children were born to this union, the eldest of whom and the only one now living (1912) being Michael Gottfried, the subject of this review. In order of birth the children were: Michael; Sabina, who became the wife of Michael Grombaugh; John G .; Mary, who married Frederick Hock; and Frederick.
Michael Gottfried was nineteen years of age when he came to this country and had acquired a good education in the thorough schools of his native land. Here he at once secured employment by the month from a Mr. Goldon, for whom he continued to work two years. In 1849 he took employment on the Michigan Southern Railroad and by the close of the second month his steady and intelligent industry had won him the position of foreman of a section. Sixteen years were spent in this manner and during this time, by the economy and prudence characteristic of his people, he saved of his earnings and acquired the capital with which to make his start in farming. In 1865 he bought and took up his residence on a tract of 75 acres which he still owns and which forms a part of his present holdings of 225 acres, 128 acres of which lie in Monroe township and 97 acres in Raisinville township. Luck did not enter into this accomplishment; instead, it represents years of earnest and intrepid toil, persistent determination and the use of a good business discernment. Mr. Gottfried has been truly successful and his course in life is well worthy of emulation by the ambitious youth, for above all it has been character that has achieved these results.
On December 17, 1854, he wedded Mary Spath, who was born in Germany, March 13, 1834, and who emigrated to America the same year in which her husband came. Four children were the issue of this union: Frederick, born October 1, 1855; Sarah, born July 2, 1857, who is single and resides with her father; William E., born May 8, 1864; and Martin, born November 11, 1866. The mother of these children died in August, 1871. The second marriage of Mr. Gottfried united him to Rosena Demmert, also a native of Germany, who was born May 22, 1844. To this union one son, George, was born on January 30, 1873.
In political views Mr. Gottfried is a Democrat, but he has never taken much part in political affairs. Both he and his wife are worthy
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members of the Lutheran church. This, in brief, is the life history of one of Monroe county's most highly esteemed pioneers, one who in business affairs has always been upright, reliable and honorable and who under all circumstances has been loyal to truth and right, justly regarding his self respect and the deserved esteem of his fellow men as the better part of his success.
IRWIN W. KNAPP, a well known and respected citizen of Monroe township, Monroe county, Michigan, and a native son of this county, was one of the young men who, in 1898, when the call for volunteers for the Spanish-American war was made, promptly gave evidence that there had been no decadence in the patriotism of our countrymen. He had but shortly before attained his majority. Enlisting in Company M, Thirty-first Regiment of Michigan Volunteers, to which he was mus- tered in on May 9, 1898, as a private, he went into camp at Chicka- mauga park, Georgia, with his regiment, which proceeded from there to Knoxville, Tennessee, and from that place to Savannah, Georgia. At the last named place the soldiers were placed on board transports for Cuba. After three months of service on the island they were returned to Savannah, Georgia, where the members of the regiment were mus- tered out May 17, 1899.
Mr. Knapp was born in Raisinville township, Monroe county, Michi- gan, on November 28, 1876, the only child of Adam and Mary (Far- well) Knapp, the former of whom also was a native of the same county and township as his son and was born about 1850. The mother died in March, 1877, when Irwin W. was but an infant and eleven years later, or on October 5, 1888, the father joined her in death. Ludwig Knapp, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany. Adam Knapp had married again after the death of his first wife and after he passed away Irwin W. was reared by his stepmother. Until seventeen years of age he attended the district schools near his boy- hood home and continued to assist in the duties of the farm until he had attained the legal age of manhood. It was a few months later that he entered the United States military service. On his return from the war he took up carpentering in Monroe, Michigan, which occupied him for two years.
On June 6, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Knapp and Miss Margaret McCrone. Mrs. Knapp was born January 10, 1877, to James and Barbara (Monroe) McCrone, the former of whom was a native of Scotland and the latter of Ontario, Canada. Both are deceased. She was reared in Canada, where she received a common school education, and came to Monroe county, Michigan, in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp have six children, namely: Irene, born December 18, 1902; Verna, born February 24, 1903; Colon, whose birth occurred October 18, 1904; Vera, born January 23, 1908; Marjorie, born March 11, 1909; and Tracy, born April 4, 1910.
Fraternally Mr. Knapp affiliates with the Knights of the Maccabees and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand of his local lodge of the latter order. Both he and his wife are mem- bers of Meleta Rebekah Lodge No. 55 at Monroe. Mr. Knapp gives his
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political allegiance to the Republican party. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp are highly respected people in their community and have won their stand- ing through honorable and useful living.
JACOB J. LAMBRIX, who is now serving his fourth year as superin- tendent of the county farm and infirmary of Monroe county, Michigan, has been a resident of this county for a number of years and prior to taking up his present duties was a well known farmer in Exeter town- ship, where he has a homestead of eighty acres.
He was born in Grand Island, New York, June 24, 1865, a son of Lawrence and Anna (Lucke) Lambrix, both of whom were born in Germany. Each of the parents had come to the United States in child- hood, had grown to maturity in New York state and there were mar- ried. In 1867 they removed to Wayne county, Michigan, where the father died in 1878 and where the mother still resides. Of the twelve children born to this union nine are living at this date (1912) and two of the sons, Jacob J. and Albert, are residents of Monroe county.
Until fourteen years of age Jacob J. Lambrix remained on the paren- tal farm in Wayne county and attended the district schools of his locality; then he started out in life for himself, working as a farm hand, then as an employe in a brick yard and later in the pineries of this state. It was thus by his own industry, frugal habits and per- sistent endeavor that he secured his start, enabling him finally to become the owner of his comfortable farmstead in Exeter township of Monroe county. While conducting his private interests his attention was given to general farming and to stock-raising. In 1909 he took up his present duties at the Monroe county farm and has so carefully and acceptably discharged them that he has been continued there to the present time and is now serving his fourth year as superintendent of the institution.
Mr. Lambrix on June 7, 1910, married Carrie Sieb, who is a native of Monroe county, Michigan, but whose parents were both born in Germany. She is their only daughter. She is a member of the Lutheran church at Monroe, Michigan, and was reared and confirmed in that faith and received a good education both in English and German in the Luth- eran parochial schools. Mr. and Mrs. Lambrix have one son, Jacob Fred- erick, born May 23, 1912. Mr. Lambrix is a communicant of the Catholic church at Stony Creek, Michigan, and is a Democrat in his political adherency.
GEORGE A. LUFT. For each one success means a different thing, but to every man who has gained by his own efforts the heights his ambition pictured for him great honor is due. Such a man is George A. Luft of Monroe township, Monroe county, Michigan. Unaided except by his own personal intelligence and worth Mr. Luft has steadily increased his holdings until he is now the owner of 86 acres of land and has won a big niche for himself in the respect of his neighbors as evidenced by his appointment to the clerkship of Monroe township. Of excellent German stock, upright and sincere, he is a man to whose truthfulness and integrity anyone who once saw him would swear.
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Mr. Luft was born in Monroe township November 20, 1870, the son of Jacob Luft and Magdalene (Swelman) Luft, one a native of Germany and the other of Wood county, Ohio. Mr. Luft's death occurred on July 6, 1908, and his wife's some time previously, in 1882. Of their five children, four are still living: George A .; William J., who was married to Rosa Stern of Monroe; Walter R., who was mar- ried to Charlotte Blome, and Anna P., the wife of Fred. B. Lanken of Portland, Oregon.
Mr. George Luft remained on the farm in Monroe township until he was twenty-one, attending the district schools until he was sixteen, and for the next five years helping his father. On February 21, 1895, his marriage with Miss Mary Kurtz took place, and they became the parents of four children : Herman J., born January 27, 1896; Arthur W., born February 7, 1898; Magdalene, born June 21, 1900; and Edwin G., born October 18, 1908. Mrs. Luft, who was born in Germany November 12, 1872, was the daughter of Frederdick Kurtz and Rusa (Ludwig) Kurtz, both natives of Germany. Mrs. Luft was raised on a farm and attended school until she was thirteen, when she was con- firmed. After that her parents' financial condition forced her to earn her own living. She went into domestic service until 1891, when she had earned money enough to bring her to America. She left her par- ents in Germany, where they are still living, and after landing in this country, came on to Ida township where she had some relatives. Like her husband she has implanted deep within her the principles of hon- esty and right living, and could never be otherwise than a kindly and sympathetic woman. Both she and Mr. Luft are members of the Ger- man Lutheran church at Monroe. Politically Mr. Luft is a Republican and was at one time a justice of the peace.
MRS. ELIZABETH A. FOSTER of Monroe township, Monroe county, Michigan, besides being an interesting woman herself, has raised a family of attractive and talented children. Her husband, James W. Foster, was a man of wide interests, and since his death, January 13, 1911, she has lived on the old homestead of 23 acres on the banks of Plumb creek with her daughter, Grace, and has ably managed his affairs.
Mrs. Foster was born in Colechester, Canada, February 11, 1848, the daughter of William H. Butler and Ann (Calvert) Butler. Ann Calvert was a native of Sunderland, England, born in 1812. Her mother died when she was still a small child, and a Mr. Eleby assumed the position of guardian over her. She received a good education in England, and when she was seventeen was brought to Canada by Mr. Eleby. In 1832 her marriage to William H. Butler took place. They bought a farm near Amherstburg, keeping it as a permanent residence for the rest of their lives. He died August 3, 1872, at the age of eighty-four years, three months, and five days, and she in 1887. Of their ten children two only are now living: James A. Butler of Adrian, Michigan; and Elizabeth A.
James W. Foster, the deceased husband of Mrs. Foster, was a deacon of the Baptist church, to which his family still belong, and was one of its most liberal supporters. The Republican party claimed him as one Vol. II-22
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of its members. He owned a great deal of real estate, and was also interested in many other things. He and Mrs. Foster were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living. Myrtle F., born in 1871, is a graduate of the Monroe schools. Her husband, Dr. Louis Todd, was killed on a railroad, December 23, 1911. Before her mar- riage she was a teacher and made one of the most brilliant records in her district. She is at present a resident of Oklahoma, where she is building a hospital. Ella O. was born May 16, 1873, and after grad- uating from the Monroe high school, became the wife of Marion Arthur. May H., whose birth occurred December 29, 1876, is the wife of John Fields. Grace A., the daughter who is living at home with her mother, was born April 30, 1879, and is a graduate of the Monroe high school. She is unmarried. The whole family has a strong interest in music and all the girls have a talent for one kind or another. The homestead where Mrs. Foster and Grace live and which is the gathering place for the family, is on the Hull road, the highway along which General Hull led his army.
TOUSSAINT H. NAVARRE. An extremely pleasant person to meet, always kindly and considerate, Toussaint H. Navarre of Monroe town- ship, Monroe county, Michigan, is a man who has always been held in the greatest respect by his neighbors and acquaintances. He was born and has lived practically on the same spot all his life so that he is well known for a considerable distance around his home.
Mr. Navarre's grandfather, James Navarre, a native of Detroit, Michigan, was one of the earliest settlers in Monroe county. Mr. Navarre, the subject of this sketch, whose parents were Eli J. and Fannie (Generoux) Navarre, was one in a family of seven children, all of whom are still living. All of them, James E., Joseph, Elizabeth, Peter, Roselle and Simon, are living in Monroe, and none of the daugh- ters have ever married.
T. H. Navarre was born April 30, 1859, and received his education, with the exception of one term at a French school, in the district schools near the home farm. At the age of nineteen he went west to South Dakota, and opened up a restaurant in Vermillion. He stayed there only five years, however, and then returned to Monroe to take up farming. He is now the owner of forty acres of land two miles south of Monroe. On July 28, 1911, he and Miss Augustine Morrin were married in St. Joseph's Catholic church in Toledo. His wife was born December 20, 1866, the daughter of Samuel Morrin and Susan (Barron) Morrin. Mr. Morrin, the son of Peter and Amelia (Duvalle) Morrin, was born in Erie, Monroe county, and his wife in La Salle, Michigan, but they were both of French descent. Mrs. Navarre was educated in the public schools of Erie. Both she and her husband attend St. Mary's Catholic church at Monroe. Mr. Navarre is a Democrat.
LOUIS J. QUELL has lived his entire life in Frenchtown township, Monroe county, Michigan, and is well known and respected there as an honest, upright farmer. He has never taken much part in local politics, although he belongs to the Democratic party, but has taken a great
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deal of interest in the school affairs of the county, and is at present a school officer.
Mr. Quell was born in the township September 13, 1870, one in a family of ten children and the son of George and Regina (Fearley) Quell. Both parents were born, raised, educated, and married in Ger- many, but later came to this country where Mrs. Quell is still living and where Mr. Quell lived until his death. Of their ten children eight survived, William, Frank, and Benjamin who are residents of North Dakota; August, George, and Louis, residents of Frenchtown township; Tracy, the wife of Joseph Beazer, and Caroline, who is unmarried and living at home.
Louis J. was raised on the farm and attended the St. Michael's Catholic school until he was confirmed, when he began farming. His first marriage took place with Mary Mack, and from their union two children were born, Addie, eighteen years old, now attending the St. Mary's College, and Sylvester, sixteen years old, a graduate of the common schools. His wife died in 1899, and soon after he was mar- ried to Rosie Eby. They became the parents of Leo, aged nine; Edward and Edna, twins, aged eight years. The mother's death occurred in 1904, and on January 27, 1909, Mr. Quell married Catherine Gentner. They have had one daughter, Elsie, one year old. Mr. and Mrs. Quell are members of St. Michael's Catholic church, and Mr. Quell also holds a membership in the St. Joseph's Society of the church. He owns 105 acres in private claims 503 and 317, and is a general farmer and dairyman.
CYRUS W. PETTIT. For almost a half century,-forty-seven years it may be said for the sake of accuracy,-has Cyrus W. Pettit been identified with the life of Monroe county, Michigan. In that time he has witnessed the remarkable development of southeastern Michigan as a resident of the state, and has borne his full share in the develop- ment of the district, contributing to its growth the work of his hands and heart during all the years of his residence here.
Mr. Pettit was born in the vicinity of London, Ontario, Canada, on September 25, 1843, and was the third born of the eight children of his parents, Martin and Eliza (Wilkins) Pettit. Six of that number yet survive, but four of them living in the United States, the two others being residents of Canada, where they were born. Martin Pettit, him- self a native born Canadian, was educated in the common schools of his home community, passed his life as a farmer and died near the scene of his life's labors. The mother, also Canadian born, died in Sparta, Ontario, Canada.
Up to the time of his eighteenth birthday Cyrus W. Pettit shared the parental home, at which time he went to London, there to learn the trade of currier and tanner. He was duly apprenticed to the trade, and by the terms of the agreement he was to receive $40 a year and his keep for the two first years of his apprenticeship, and $60 and keep for the last two years. At the end of three years, however, he felt himself sufficiently well versed in the details of the work to enable him to break his apprenticeship, which he did, and came direct to
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Detroit. His sole possessions in coin of the realm was something like $25 when he arrived in Detroit on September 7, 1863, but he sought and almost immediately found employment at his trade, entering the service of George Kirby, who was located on Woodward avenue. He continued there for six months, then saw a better opening with the firm of Tomlinson & Graves, where he remained for another half year. His next move was to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1866, and he remained there for eight months, when he decided to try his luck in Chicago. En route for that city, he stopped in Jackson, and there met a member of the firm of Emily & Corter, who maintained shops at Tecumseh and Jackson. Mr. Emily had charge of the establishment at Tecumseh, and his offer of employment was accepted by Mr. Pettit who remained there for some little time, then moved to Adrian, Michigan. His stay in Adrian was but brief, six months covering it, after which he returned to his home in Canada and followed his trade in the vicinity of his native community for some few months, soon, however, returning to Michigan again. He once more took up his work in Tecumseh and for something like three years continued there. When he came to Dundee in 1869 he had managed to accumulate a capital of $600, all repre- senting savings from his earnings. He worked at his trade for a year in Dundee, and in 1871 located an establishment 'on Main street where he engaged in the manufacturing of harness and saddles. He remained in that location for a year, in 1872 locating on his present site, which is his personal property. Thus for forty-two years Mr. Pettit has been engaged in business in Monroe county, in the town of Dundee, and has well earned the right to be styled one of the pioneers of the county. Mr. Pettit carries a large and complete line of harness goods, robes, whips, etc., and in addition to this feature of the business, he and his son, Irving, carry on a busy trade in the manufacturing of harness, in which work they are recognized as adepts in and about the county.
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